Development of a new micropropagation protocols database at the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

A new database system, the Micropropagation Protocols database,
is being developed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for the storage
and management of data relating to micropropagation methods.

The database is a new module of a pre-existing database application,
BG-BASE , which is designed to manage data on biological
collections such as those held by botanic gardens, arboreta and
horticultural establishments. BG-BASE is widely used around
the world to manage collections, herbaria and seed banks. BG-BASE
is written by Kerry S. Walter and Michael O'Neal and is being
developed at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Holden
Arboretum (Kirkland, Ohio).

The Micropropagation Protocols database stores summary information
on successful techniques developed by staff of the Kew Micropropagation
Unit and complements existing recording systems. It allows searches
to be made for protocols developed for species, genus or family
and will facilitate the publication of "recipe" books
of protocols developed by the Unit. The database is now in the
final stages of development and data are being added to the system.

This project is supported by a generous donation from the Esmée
Fairbairn Charitable Trust.